Happily Cooking

Skip to Recipe Summer is one of the best times to get together with friends and family. Chances are, your summer calendar is stacked with backyard cookouts, potlucks, gatherings. Whether you’re hosting a party, or going on a potluck or picnic, you can never go wrong with a delicious salad when it’s hot outside. With a rainbow of fresh, colorful veggies, protein-packed chickpeas, and a bright zesty dressing, this Mediterranean Chickpea Salad is the real crowd-pleaser. It is low-key, big on flavors, and can be whipped up in a pinch. While this salad certainly shines in warmer weather ( especially with garden-grown tomatoes) there’s never a bad time to indulge in such a healthy, colorful and satisfying salad! SALAD INGREDIENTS Chickpeas: The star of this recipe is Chickpeas. Chickpeas are a plant-based source of protein, high in fiber and help you keep satisfied for longer. You can use d...

Skip to Recipe No-cook summer meals can be a lifesaver, especially when the sun is blazing in through your windows, and all you want to do is sit and relax without breaking a sweat in the kitchen. For those sticky, sweaty, sweltering days, recipes like this Pesto Caprese Pasta Salad come to our rescue. Easy, light, and refreshing- this salad is an ode to all things summer. Juicy cherry tomatoes, creamy mozzarella, homemade pesto, and pasta are all tossed together to make this colorful and vibrant salad. Though the ingredients are simple, the flavors are incredible. We love this so much that it shows up at our dinner table a few times during the summer months. Why You will love this Salad? This salad is a no fuss recipe that calls for only a handful of ingredients, comes together in less than 20 minutes and with very little effort. Whether you're looking for a quick healthy lunch, or you are making this for a potl...

Skip to Recipe After a never ending gloomy winter, spring is finally here! While I love cozy soups and stews, during the cold days, switching over to fresh salads is one thing that I really look forward to around this time of the year . Fresh strawberries have started making an appearance on the shelves of the grocery stores. Since the strawberry season is short, I try to make the most use of them. Apart from using them in my smoothies, I also love tossing them in my salads to give them a bright colour and a sweet flavor. Say bye to boring salads! This Grilled Chicken Strawberry Salad is layered with grilled chicken, fresh stawberries,blueberries, mandarin oranges, iceberg lettuce, crunchy walnuts and drizzled with a homemade Poppy Seed Dressing. It is a cinch to whip up in just 30 minutes and perfect for a quick and filling lunch! A light, healthy and vibrant salad with incredible flavors and textures! The best part abo...

Skip to Recipe Summer is officially still a month away! I know it seems a little early to start sharing BBQ recipes, but I couldn’t wait any longer to share this one with you. When it’s warm out, there’s nothing better than a bowl of fresh colorful salad! I am a picky eater when it comes to salad, but this one is so good that I keep coming back to this time and again! With whole grain pasta, juicy cherry tomatoes, black beans, corn, fresh cilantro, this Southwest Pasta Salad is as bright and sunny as a warm summer day. It is slightly spicy, sweet, and has all the flavors of our favorite tacos. But the real secret lies in the homemade roasted pepper cashew dressing. It is creamy, flavourful, and insanely delicious! The dressing can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and can be used in about as many ways as you can think of- as a salad dressing, as a dip with a platter of crackers and vegetables, a tasty spread on sandwiches, a...

Skip to Recipe It is my favorite time of the year. Spring is in full bloom. It never fails to cheer my heart to see dormant plants come to life again, more hours of sunshine, and the snug warmth of the big yellow ball in the sky. Since the last few weeks were bright and sunny here, I could not resist the intoxicating temptation of having mangoes. Although they are available here almost year-round in the grocery stores, there is something about having them during this time. Fresh Mango Salsa is a colorful dish that is packed with bright, juicy mangoes, crunchy red onions, red bell peppers, cilantro, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. With the perfect balance of sweet and spicy, this Mango Salsa is sure to be a hit in your family! It’s so colorful that it almost looks like a party on a plate! I love it so much that every summer I put it on our meal rotation at least 3-4 times a month.It’s not only great for special occasions like BBQs, picnics,...

Some foods have the power to flood us with memories. They remind us of joyful times, emotional memories of people and places from our past. One such food is corn on the cob,(or Bhutta as popularly called in India)that continues to linger on my taste buds and fondly reminds me of the best days of my life. With the first monsoon rain falling on dry earth came the most pleasant fragrance of the entire universe. Growing up, my fondest memories of the monsoon have to be the charcoal-roasted corn on cobs from an old lady who sold them near our house on rainy evenings. Biting into the crunchy cob of corn roasted on an open fire, smeared with lemon juice, and salt, while watching the rain through the window was pure magic to all senses. Now, enough of going down the memory lane, lets come back to the present. It is officially summer here and no summer barbeque party is complete without corn. On warm, sunny days I love to have salads with refreshing flavors that I can whip up in...